On a lovely autumn day, in Woodbridge, the 2016
Fall Leadership Luncheon offered insights on voting from the Fourth
Estate and the experience of Registrars who conduct the electoral
process.

FROM SEC'Y OF THE STATE'S OFFICE - RED WHITE AND BLUE AS WELL AS GREEN COLOR SHOWING!
Internet connectivity to almost all voters - methods in Spanish
and English - displayed above by our President. A good way to
begin this meeting!

HOW TO RELATE TO PRESS/MEDIA IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT

I GOT ONE RIGHT; ANIMATED AND THOUGHTFUL FIRST SPEAKER ADDRESS...
Brain teaser questions to make sure we are all awake! And this
particular room, at the JCC of Greater New Haven, has mirrors on the
long wall opposite the wonderful real windows and awesome shades, FWIW.

DID YOU KNOW THE CONNECTICUT CONSTITUTION EXPLICITLY PROVIDES FOR THE PRESS ROOM AT THE CAPITOL? Just like press room in this movie...LWVCT
Leadership Luncheon was filled with an audience who especially came to hear
about the topic "Are You Election Ready?" And it is no joke to
League!

DELIGHTED TO ANSWER TOUGH QUESTIONS AND ACTUALLY ENJOYED EXCHANGES!!!If you want to hear what was said in
her introduction, presentation as well as the full "Q&A" period,
please listen to sound recording HERE.

THEN A COMMERCIAL...

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS IN THE YEAR 2016: Three important documents distributed - and
others about League Leadership, etc. - document covers only below.
Please visit LWVCT website. For those in League: Titles you've got to read right about now...Registration, Voting and Voters' GuidesDebates and Forums PlanningDebates, Forums FormatsBefore we heard from our
Social Policy Director, a report on new website for LWVCT...and how our
Election efforts to turn out informed voters and reach candidates for
Legislative Office will be an online only VOTERS GUIDE. Above, the
covers of a few long-established LWVCT documents on voting details for
local leagues...

Then...a
fabulous talk on what it really means to vote and be "voting
ready!!!" And also, these insights for those involved in future-think
for League in general, must have been breathtaking!

I HAD BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE LONG ELECTION NIGHT AHEAD REPORTING RESULTS TO A.P., AND VOTES BY MINOR PARTIES...
Our second speaker, LWVCT Social Policy Director, was a fabulous
presenter! Posing a question: Are you ready to vote on
November 8th? The answer - if you wait until Nov. 8th you've
missed the boat.

RELATING HOW IMPORTANT THE DETAILS ARE - ESPECIALLY TO NEW CITIZENSA naturalized citizen herself, coming from
a location with strong democratic traditions of Parties and
Presidential voting, she notes the differences in the actual shape of
the ballot and how unprepared voters don't know what to do when they
actually are faced with a ballot!!! She recalled her first vote
behind a voting booth curtain, and admitted she was challenged to figure
it out! (I did not mention this, but the first time I voted in
N.Y.C. all there was to vote for, if memory serves, after the big races,
were judges. I'm so old, however, there was a Party Lever - although I don't recall if I used it!)

The further exploration into how the League
can help get voters ready "to exercise the franchise"...an idea not new
but needing a new slant perhaps?

RAISING AWARENESS. RAISING PARTICIPATIONSounds like a plan as a former First
Selectman of Westport used to say!!! And then we did lunch -
awesome takeout from the kitchen of the oldest form of democracy -
Greece!